Diasporic Pakistani Masculinities: Exploring the Perceptions and Experiences of Contemporary Pakistani Immigrant Men in Sweden

The aim of this paper is to investigate the following three main research questions. A) How do Pakistani men define masculinities? B) How do they reflect on the role of religion, socio/cultural practices in the construction of masculinities in Pakistani context? C) How do Pakistani men define themselves in two different contexts (Pakistan and Sweden)? To answer these research questions, I have employed two theoretical concepts i.e. intersectionality and hegemonic masculinity. I have proposed that to understand the processes of construction of the masculinities in a local context one need to consider the intersection of different social categories which contributes to the construction of masculinity i.e. class, caste, ethnicity, age,... (More)

The aim of this paper is to investigate the following three main research questions. A) How do Pakistani men define masculinities? B) How do they reflect on the role of religion, socio/cultural practices in the construction of masculinities in Pakistani context? C) How do Pakistani men define themselves in two different contexts (Pakistan and Sweden)? To answer these research questions, I have employed two theoretical concepts i.e. intersectionality and hegemonic masculinity. I have proposed that to understand the processes of construction of the masculinities in a local context one need to consider the intersection of different social categories which contributes to the construction of masculinity i.e. class, caste, ethnicity, age, religion and gender. Secondly, I have employed the concept of hegemonic masculinity to explore the power relation of men towards women and other men which also lead us to trace multiple masculinities found in the local context. I rely on the interview data for the analysis of paper which I have gained from conducting in-depth interviews with 10 Pakistani men and some are studying and some are working in Lund, Sweden. The findings of the paper showed that diverse concepts of masculinities are found among different ethnic groups along various social categories. The experiences and perceptions of research participants showed that masculinities vary according to time and space. (Less)

@misc{3173482,
abstract = {The aim of this paper is to investigate the following three main research questions. A) How do Pakistani men define masculinities? B) How do they reflect on the role of religion, socio/cultural practices in the construction of masculinities in Pakistani context? C) How do Pakistani men define themselves in two different contexts (Pakistan and Sweden)? To answer these research questions, I have employed two theoretical concepts i.e. intersectionality and hegemonic masculinity. I have proposed that to understand the processes of construction of the masculinities in a local context one need to consider the intersection of different social categories which contributes to the construction of masculinity i.e. class, caste, ethnicity, age, religion and gender. Secondly, I have employed the concept of hegemonic masculinity to explore the power relation of men towards women and other men which also lead us to trace multiple masculinities found in the local context. I rely on the interview data for the analysis of paper which I have gained from conducting in-depth interviews with 10 Pakistani men and some are studying and some are working in Lund, Sweden. The findings of the paper showed that diverse concepts of masculinities are found among different ethnic groups along various social categories. The experiences and perceptions of research participants showed that masculinities vary according to time and space.},
author = {Bano, Seemi},
keyword = {intersectionality,gender,hegemonic masculinity,Pakistani men,masculinities},
language = {eng},
note = {Student Paper},
series = {Social Studies of Gender},
title = {Diasporic Pakistani Masculinities: Exploring the Perceptions and Experiences of Contemporary Pakistani Immigrant Men in Sweden},
year = {2012},
}